<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1658233701223,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed8c-d9d9-a9ec-ffac26f80002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1658233701223,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed8c-d9d9-a9ec-ffac26f80002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_58160478", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1055663"} }); ","_id":"00000182-166e-d6d9-a5d7-367e3b440000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video Embed
The Chinese government has warned of “resolute and strong measures” if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) goes through with her reported trip to Taiwan next month.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday that Pelosi’s planned trip to Taiwan would “severely undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, gravely impact the foundation of China-U.S. relations, and send a seriously wrong signal to Taiwan independence forces.” He added that “if the U.S. were to insist on going down the wrong path, China will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The Chinese government has long sought to bring the territory of Taiwan under its control, including through forcible annexation or invasion. While Taiwan is self-governed and receives U.S. defense support, despite not being recognized. U.S. relations with Taiwan became unofficial in 1979 after the U.S. agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the Chinese mainland.
CHINA USES BOLTON COUP BOAST TO ATTACK US-LED INTERNATIONAL ORDER
“We do not confirm or deny international travel in advance due to long-standing security protocols,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told the Washington Examiner. Hammill did not respond to additional questions on whether China’s concerns factor into her travel plans.
Chinese state-owned outlet People’s Daily said that Zhao Lijian said the Chinese government “urges the US not to organize House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island of Taiwan and warns the US will be met with strong and resolute countermeasures should it take its own course.”
China’s Ministry of Defense also said Tuesday that the Chinese military “will resolutely thwart any form of interference by external forces and separatist plots of Taiwan independence.”
“If she really dares to visit Taiwan, it will be a major serious incident,” Hu Xijin, a commentator for the state-owned Global Times, said on Twitter. “She will be the enemy that divides China. She will experience a risky visit. She will also bear historical responsibility for possibly triggering a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.”
Pelosi had reportedly been planning a trip to Taiwan back in April, but she tested positive for COVID-19 and her spokesperson had said the “planned Congressional delegation to Asia, led by Speaker Pelosi, will be postponed to a later date.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attacked Pelosi’s planned trip at the time.
“If the U.S. House speaker, a political leader of the United States, deliberately visits Taiwan, it would be a malicious provocation against China’s sovereignty and gross interference in China’s internal affairs, and would send an extremely dangerous political signal to the outside world,” the Chinese government official said. “If the U.S. side insists on having its own way, China will surely make a firm response, and all the consequences will be borne by the U.S. side.”
The State Department’s policy on Taiwan is currently that “we oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Pelosi would be the highest-level U.S. lawmaker to go to Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich traveled there in 1997. Gingrich discussed his conversations with Chinese leaders at the time: ”I said firmly, ‘We want you to understand, we will defend Taiwan. Period.’ … I think that they are more aware now that we would defend Taiwan if it were militarily attacked.”
President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed that the U.S. would respond militarily to defend Taiwan if China attacked the democratic island nation. Each time, the White House has subsequently insisted America’s decadeslong policy of “strategic ambiguity” had not actually changed.
